Rotten Tomato Deal

Why you'll soon pay more at the grocery.

Updated Feb. 13, 2013 12:01 a.m. ET

The Obama Administration resolved a simmering trade tiff with Mexico earlier this month, and tomato lovers can be forgiven for heaving a few rotten specimens at the Commerce Department in response. Americans will pay more to benefit some politically connected Florida growers.

The deal updates a 16-year-old agreement and raises prices on Mexican tomato imports "substantially, in some cases more than double," as Commerce Under Secretary for International Trade Francisco Sánchez put it, approvingly. The Cato...